Appraisal on suitable landfill site selection for municipal solid waste disposal using GIS-based MIF model

City planners face a significant challenge with the issue of solid waste disposal, especially in developing countries because of urbanization and rapid population growth. The local environment and public health may suffer immensely because of inappropriate or un-scientific selection of landfill locations. This research was carried out for future scientific landfill site selection in Ambernath and environs, India. In this regard, twelve environmental, physical, and socio-economic factors have been considered to maintain sustainability and tackle the solid waste disposal problems. Integrated GIS based MIF technique were adopted with an emphasis on structuring the decision-making processes to locate appropriate landfill locations that are cost effective, environmentally sustainable, and acceptable in a public context. The delineated landfill suitability results show that 16.37% of the research area is falling under very highly suitable for optimal landfill sites selection. The remaining 20.58%, 29.32%, and 15.28% of the area are highly, moderately, and less suitable, whereas 18.43% of the area encompasses the unsuitable zonation. The effectiveness of each variable was determined by sensitivity analysis, which shows that vegetation density, location of drainage density, and water bodies are the dominant factors to delineate suitable landfill sites. Further analysis of the results showed that MIF is the effective approach, with an Area Under Curve (AUC) value of 0.78. The findings of this study offer reliable geospatial outputs that waste management authorities and city planners can use to recommend new landfill sites that ensure environmental and socio-economic sustainability.